The Raleigh Register Beckley, West Virginia Tuesday, June 27, 1972 - Page 4
With Braun And Brain Can Bobby Beat Boris?
Championship chess is a contest that calls for prodigious amounts of physical as well as mental exertion. To determine how much energy is actually expended by a chess player in a tournament game, a bio-kinetic experiment was conducted at Temple University in 1970. Pulse, heartbeat and other physiological measurements were taken on 12 volunteers during play. The surprising result: Chess is as physically taxing as a strenuous session of boxing or football.
Thus, both Bobby Fischer of the United States and Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union are keeping their bodies in fighting trim as they prepare for their world championship chess match in Reykjavik, Iceland, starting July 2. The close-lipped Spassky has declined to reveal details of his training program, although it is known he likes to play tennis. Fischer's daily regimen includes morning calisthenics in front of his television set, followed by swimming, tennis and bowling.
By the same token, professional football players find that chess sharpens their mental agility on the field. Ron Johnson and Bob Tucker, both of the New York Giants, are engaged in a marathon match that has been in progress for several years. But Harold C. Schonberg argues in Harper's that chess brings greater rewards: “It is an affirmation of personality. The game requires imagination and creativity—the ability to see, or sense, possibilities hidden to less refined minds.”
DESPITE THE NEED for brawn as well as brain, chess is regarded with indifference, at best, by most Americans. The game is thought of as boring and strictly for the cerebral elite. As a result, the United States ranks about as poorly in world chess circles as it does in international Ping Pong competition. The Soviet Union has around four million chess players who compete in tournaments, the United States only about 25,000.
Still, the unofficial world champion of chess in the mid-19th century was Paul Morphy of New Orleans. Since organized international competition began in 1948, the Russians have had a monopoly on the title. Not only that, all challengers in the final rounds have been Russians, too. Now, Fischer is given a slightly better than even chance of dethroning Spassky. But skeptics point out that Spassky has beaten Fischer in all five of their previous meetings.
THE TWO FINALISTS already have jousted over a sire for their showdown match. Fischer wanted Belgrade, while Spassky favored Reykjavik. A compromise under which games would be played in both cities finally fell through. The entire match, consisting of a maximum of 24 games, will take place in the Icelandic capital. As, challenger, Fischer must amass 12½ points to win, while Spassky needs only 12 to defend his title.
Iceland may seem an odd choice for a championship sporting event of any kind. But as chess columnist Harry Golombek of The Times of London pointed out, “There is a long tradition of the popularity of chess in that country, going right back almost to the beginning of the game in Europe.” The oldest known European set of chessmen, now on display in the British Museum, is believed to have been made in Iceland in the 12th century.
Many other countries, including India, China and Spain, also have contributed to the lore of chess. The word checkmate, signaling the end of the game, comes from the Persian phrase shah mat. Appropriately enough, it means “The king is dead.”
